No reason for the absence was given, but Schneider was back in the clubhouse prior to the game against Pittsburgh this afternoon in Clearwater, Fla.

According to the posted roster for today's game, Schneider is not scheduled to play nor is he on the travel list for Saturday's contest against Baltimore in Sarasota, Fla.

Things tend to change on the fly in exhibition game plans, so the veteran catcher could find himself on a bus heading south tomorrow morning, with starting catcher Carlos Ruiz also scheduled for a day off.

Also back in the fold -- a day after visiting a rehabilitation specialist -- was second baseman Chase Utley.

"They were more interested in basically showing him some exercises that they would like him to do and being more hands on in the implementation," said assistant GM Scott Proefrock. "We will see how it goes."

Utley took batting practice and fielded some grounders this morning, but still has not played in an exhibition game this spring.

Other news and notes:

A pair of Lehigh Valley IronPigs pitchers, Michael Stutes and Vance Worley, were among seven players sent over to the minor league complex in the past 24 hours. Both had excellent auditions but were not projected to make the opening day roster.

John Mayberry Jr. (.333 BA, four HR and four SB) and Ben Francisco (.340 BA, three HR) are both having strong springs in a battle to replace Jayson Werth in RF. Meanwhile, Werth is off to a .179 start in 28 spring training ABs for Washington.

New IronPigs manager Ryne Sandberg spent his final day in major league camp on Thursday and headed over to the Carpenter Complex for the final two weeks of spring training.

Catcher Erik Kratz had a productive St. Patrick's Day as he homered in the morning during a "B" game against Toronto and then went yard again in the eighth inning of the regular game off Blue Jays reliever David Purcey.

Placido Polanco is expected to miss a couple more games with a sore elbow, and Brad Lidge said he experienced no discomfort in his bicep after a bullpen session today.

Some good news on the injury front: Manuel said that while Jimmy Rollins had not really "cut it loose" on the basepaths, he believes the veteran shortstop is moving and feeling much better than he did at the end of last year.

Cliff Lee pitched three strong innings against the Blue Jays on Thursday before getting hit hard (five runs, three earned) in the fourth. The pitcher and manager both attributed the shaky inning to loss of command and getting behind in the count.